Iceland with kids - purchase a 'self-drive' package or DIY?
Nov 25th, 2014, 07:48 AM
#1
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Iceland with kids - purchase a 'self-drive' package or DIY?
Just snapped up a great deal on airfare for mid-August and will be traveling with my two kids (age 8 and 12). We have almost 2 weeks in Iceland. I want to get around the island (can't even be more specific than that right now - very early planning stages). I see there are companies that will arrange the rental car, accomodations, and provide an detailed intinerary. The other possibility is attempt to plan a DIY trip with the help of guidebooks and such. I have traveled quite a bit, both with the kids and without, all over the world. This will be my first trip to Iceland.
1. Does anyone have an opinion on using a tour company for the road trip planning vs. a DIY? Any significant cost differnce to be concerned about?
2. I hope to spend 3 days in/around Reykjavik and then head out father afield. Is a rental car needed in the city, or is there adequate transportation around town?
3. If you self-drive how much of the 'sites" can be done on your own vs. needing a guide at the specific locations anyhow (e.g. inside the national parks, hiking, etc.)
Many thanks in advance!
1. Does anyone have an opinion on using a tour company for the road trip planning vs. a DIY? Any significant cost differnce to be concerned about?
2. I hope to spend 3 days in/around Reykjavik and then head out father afield. Is a rental car needed in the city, or is there adequate transportation around town?
3. If you self-drive how much of the 'sites" can be done on your own vs. needing a guide at the specific locations anyhow (e.g. inside the national parks, hiking, etc.)
Many thanks in advance!
Nov 25th, 2014, 11:35 AM
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I'm planning for Iceland as well. When I was first looking the names and distances were dizzying. I was hell-bent on doing one of the self-drive tours. As I got more familiar the Golden Circle, though, and began to get a good sense of the major tourist sites (looking at a few of the self-drive tour itineraries as well as the various forums and blogs) and had a better sense of the hotels I wanted, I was able to plot it all down on a spreadsheet. I concluded we'd save at minimum $800 (and probably quite a bit more) by doing it ourselves.
Nov 25th, 2014, 12:48 PM
#3
scigirl,
with nearly two weeks at your disposal, you should be able to get all the way round, which is what I would advise as there many lovely things to see, but long distances between them. Therefore the use of a hub for touring an area doesn't really work for Iceland. We made that mistake a few years ago, and though we had a good time, we didn't see as much as we could have done had we just driven all the way round the ring road.
Whether you buy a tour or organise it yourself is really up to you; accommodation is easy to book on the internet [that was true even when we went a number of years ago and will be even easier now] as is car hire. www.farmholidays.is is a good place to start - they list hotels and guest houses as well as farm stays but certainly with children aged 12 & 8, staying on a farm or two may be fun for them. But looking at the tours should give you a good idea of where to look for for your overnights and how long to stay in each place.
You could easily do the Golden Circle in a day by way of a day trip from Reykjavik, or use it as your first or last stop on the way from/back to Reykjavik. We stayed near there for two nights, which was probably a night too long, but we did like going to see the Geyser in the evening when everyone had gone home. As it's so light at night there is plenty of time for looking around in the evenings which does give you more time for sightseeing.
if you can, try to work the western fjords into your trip - seeing the millions of puffins and other birds nesting on the cliffs at the far end of the fjords was one of the highlights of our holiday to Iceland, and quite a lot of other trips as well. You can get a ferry back across to the Snaefellness peninsular which was also pretty special.
Good luck with you planning and have a great trip!
with nearly two weeks at your disposal, you should be able to get all the way round, which is what I would advise as there many lovely things to see, but long distances between them. Therefore the use of a hub for touring an area doesn't really work for Iceland. We made that mistake a few years ago, and though we had a good time, we didn't see as much as we could have done had we just driven all the way round the ring road.
Whether you buy a tour or organise it yourself is really up to you; accommodation is easy to book on the internet [that was true even when we went a number of years ago and will be even easier now] as is car hire. www.farmholidays.is is a good place to start - they list hotels and guest houses as well as farm stays but certainly with children aged 12 & 8, staying on a farm or two may be fun for them. But looking at the tours should give you a good idea of where to look for for your overnights and how long to stay in each place.
You could easily do the Golden Circle in a day by way of a day trip from Reykjavik, or use it as your first or last stop on the way from/back to Reykjavik. We stayed near there for two nights, which was probably a night too long, but we did like going to see the Geyser in the evening when everyone had gone home. As it's so light at night there is plenty of time for looking around in the evenings which does give you more time for sightseeing.
if you can, try to work the western fjords into your trip - seeing the millions of puffins and other birds nesting on the cliffs at the far end of the fjords was one of the highlights of our holiday to Iceland, and quite a lot of other trips as well. You can get a ferry back across to the Snaefellness peninsular which was also pretty special.
Good luck with you planning and have a great trip!
Nov 25th, 2014, 06:30 PM
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I'd definitely recommend doing it on your own. Half the fun of Iceland is 'discovering' things yourself. I'd actually save Reykjavik until the end (no car needed).
We did a counter clockwise loop and had a great time.
We did a counter clockwise loop and had a great time.
Nov 26th, 2014, 04:27 AM
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Thank you all. Very good to know about the farms. I curled up with the guidebook last night and started making alist and it started to feel more manageable. Also good to know about the self-drive cost vs. package. I am getting quite excited about the trip. I told the kids last night that we would be going and they like the idea of hiking on a glacier and having only a couple hours of darkness per night.
Nov 26th, 2014, 04:44 AM
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Since you mention glaciers let me sound like a very old, terrified, paranoid person for a minute. We hiked in Iceland last year with a guide. And we still managed to walk unknowingly by the edges of some very difficult to see crevices. And I'm not talking small ones.
I can't tell if you are thinking of hiking on glaciers (or really any icy/snowy area) with or without a guide. But you really have to keep your eyes open and have some idea of what you are doing. Our guide was telling us that semi-frequently the guides have to leave their own groups and join in rescues of people who have fallen down a chute.
I can't tell if you are thinking of hiking on glaciers (or really any icy/snowy area) with or without a guide. But you really have to keep your eyes open and have some idea of what you are doing. Our guide was telling us that semi-frequently the guides have to leave their own groups and join in rescues of people who have fallen down a chute.
Nov 26th, 2014, 08:27 PM
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Definitely no glacier hiking without a guide!!! OMGosh no - I just don't plan to have a guide for the entire trip (e.g. not a tour where we are bused around).
I've made some progress in getting a room booked for 3 nights on arrival and started researching rental cars (ouch!) and things to do in the city. It is coming together - it always does. It just seemed so overwhelming at the start. (I traveled on my own in China before the internet was particularly handy and I managed - although I got lost in a rural cement factory at one point. As the saying goes - Don't Panic. )
I've made some progress in getting a room booked for 3 nights on arrival and started researching rental cars (ouch!) and things to do in the city. It is coming together - it always does. It just seemed so overwhelming at the start. (I traveled on my own in China before the internet was particularly handy and I managed - although I got lost in a rural cement factory at one point. As the saying goes - Don't Panic. )
